1-3 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. 4-5 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.

7-8 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9-10 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 1 Samuel 8:1-10 English Standard Version

From all the Bible tells us of Samuel, it would appear that he was a God fearing man who served the Lord faithfully. Yet, sadly, his sons did not walk in his ways. This is a sorrow many parents face, and such parents may feel it was their fault that their children don't follow in their footsteps. But, as this passage goes on to show, people sometimes reject God simply because of rebellion in their own hearts. And so it was that the people of Israel asked Samuel to give them a king. One can understand their unhappiness at Samuel's sons taking bribes and perverting justice, because those are serious charges. But what was the big mistake they were making. (vs 4-5)

They looked to what the nations around them were doing, instead of looking to God. They didn’t ask Samuel to bring the problem to the Lord, to find out what God's answer would be. Churches can fall into a similar danger. We may be going through dry times with little success. The temptation can be to look to see what the world does to attract people, and try and copy them, instead of doing what Samuel did in vs 6. He prayed - and laid the matter before God. What was the surprising answer Samuel got from the Lord? (vs 7-8)

God tells Samuel to give them what they were asking for! But what did God say in those verses was the reason for doing this?

Because their request was an ongoing sign of their rejecting Him as their King, despite all the good He had done for them. Ever since leaving Egypt under Moses, the people had refused to put God first in their lives. They had grumbled against Moses on the journey about not having food, and Moses told them them that they were really grumbling against God.

Hundreds of years later the same hardness of heart was again on the nation. When the perfect king whom God had given was on trial, the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate said to them: “Behold your King!” But they cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said: “Shall I crucify your King?” But the chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. (From John 19:15-16) Once again, they were rejecting God as King.

In the next half of this chapter we will see the sad consequences of rejecting God, and wanting to be like the nations. One lesson here is that we must be careful what we ask God for. If we are asking for things so we can 'be like the world', then we're in danger of rejecting all that God has done for us. And, for parents with unsaved children, or wives and husbands with unsaved spouses, take heart from what God said to Samuel. None of us are perfect parents or spouses, but that doesn't mean we are to blame for loved ones who are rejecting the Lord. Let us not cease praying for them to see God's amazing goodness and love, and for them to receive Jesus Christ as saviour and king.